Press Release for Wednesday, February 13, 2013

UNF Poll Reveals Economy is the No. 1 Concern for Duval County Residents

A new University of North Florida poll reveals that 37 percent of adult residents of Duval County believe improving the economy and creating jobs should be Jacksonville’s top priority this year. One proposal that the county’s residents support is to add sexual orientation to the existing list of groups protected from workplace discrimination (58 percent). Second to the economy, improving the quality of public education was the next most important issue that residents thought the City of Jacksonville should tackle, with 24 percent of people believing it to be a top priority.

Duval County residents aren’t satisfied (56 percent) with the quality of public education in Jacksonville.In conjunction with these findings, they believe that increasing the budget for public education would improve the quality of education (55 percent), and they also support a small increase in property taxes, if those taxes go towards public education (64 percent). Conversely, 43 percent of Duval County residents approve of the job that Nikolai Vitti, the new Duval County Superintendent, is doing and only 10 percent disapprove. As Vitti is new to the job, it’s not surprising that 40 percent of the respondents didn’t have an opinion of his performance. Mayor Alvin Brown still retains high support in Duval County, with 70 percent of the population approving of his job performance.

The survey was conducted through the use of a 27-station telephone-polling laboratory at UNF. A polling sample was selected through the use of Random-Digit-Dialing methodology. A cell phone sample and an overlay sample were used to increase representation. Age, gender, race and party registration were weighted to the 2010 U.S. Census, as well as to statistics from the Supervisor of Elections for Duval County registered voters.

The survey was conducted between Monday, Feb. 4, and Tuesday, Feb. 12, and includes 917 residents (+/- 3.23 percent) in Duval County. Approximately 210 UNF political science students participated in the data collection.

Below are the full results. For further information or questions about methodology, contact Dr. Michael Binder, UNF assistant professor of political science, at (904) 620-1205 or m.binder@unf.edu.

UNF, a nationally ranked university located on an environmentally beautiful campus, offers students who are dedicated to enriching the lives of others the opportunity to build their own futures through a well-rounded education.

-UNF-

*Data is weighted by age, gender, race, and party identification.

In your opinion, what should be Jacksonville’s top priority this year?

N=917

Improving Arts& Entertainment

2%

Improving the Downtown Area

6%

Improving the Economy & Creating Jobs

37%

Improving Public Education

24%

Improving Transportation & Infrastructure

3%

Reducing Crime

13%

Solving the Public Pension Problem

3%

Balancing the Budget

5%

Other

6%

NA/DK

1%

Do you support or oppose the City of Jacksonville adding sexual orientation to the existing list of groups protected from workplace discrimination?

N=917

Strongly Approve

36%

Somewhat Approve

22%

Somewhat Oppose

13%

Strongly Oppose

20%

NA/DK

9%

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Alvin Brown is doing as Mayor of Jacksonville?

March 2012

March 2013

Strongly Approve

37%

26%

Somewhat Approve

38%

44%

Somewhat Disapprove

7%

10%

Strongly Disapprove

4%

8%

NA/DK

14%

12%

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Nikolai Vitti is handling his job as Duval County Superintendent of Schools?

N=917

Strongly Approve

17%

Somewhat Approve

26%

Somewhat Disapprove

10%

Strongly Disapprove

6%

NA/DK

40%

How satisfied are you with the quality of public education in Jacksonville?

N=917

Very Satisfied

9%

Somewhat Satisfied

27%

Somewhat Unsatisfied

24%

Very Unsatisfied

32%

NA/DK

7%

Do you think increasing the budget for public education will improve the quality of education in Jacksonville?

N=917

Yes

55%

No

40%

NA/DK

5%

Do you support or oppose a small increase in property taxes if those taxes go to public education?

N=917

Strongly Support

36%

Somewhat Support

28%

Somewhat Oppose

9%

Strongly Oppose

26%

NA/DK

2%

Demographics Questions:

What is your age? Is it:

N=917

18-24

16%

25-44

35%

45-64

33%

65-80

10%

Above 80

5%

NA/DK

1%

What is your racial or ethnic background? Is it:

N=917

Caucasian

61%

African American

27%

Latino

6%

Asian

4%

Other

3%

NA/DK

0%

What is the highest grade in school or year of college you have completed?

N=917

Grade School

4%

High School Graduate

25%

Some College

41%

College Graduate

19%

Post Graduate

9%

NA/DK

1%

What is your annual household income?

N=917

Less than $25,000

11%

$25,000 to $50,000

24%

$50,000 to $75,000

20%

$75,000 to $100,000

12%

Above $100,000

12%

NA/DK

20%

Are we reaching you on a landline or a cell phone?

N=917

Landline

43%

Cell Phone

56%

NA/DK

1%

Do you only have a landline, only have a cell phone, or do you have both a landline and a cell phone?